Today, April 17th, 2005 is a significant day for First Nations peoples. It marks 20 years since amendments were made to the Indian Act, commonly known to First Nations as "Bill C-31".

It was first introduced in Parliament on April 17, 1985 and it received Royal Assent on June 28, 1985.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the continued discrimination of Bill
C-31, the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) and the Quebec Native Women Inc. (QNW) are planning a protest on Parliament Hill on June 28, 2005.

It is well known that Bill C-31 did not alleviate the discrimination
within the Indian Act. In fact, the situation has worsened. First Nations
children are losing Indian status at an alarming rate because one of their
parents is non-status. If something is not done then there will be no more
status Indians in the foreseeable future.

NWAC President, Beverley Jacobs, is very concerned over the effects of
Bill C-31. "My office is receiving numerous calls related to Bill C-31. I am
hearing about women being denied access to their communities as a result of who they married before 1985. I am also hearing about First Nations children being denied Indian status due to unstated paternity. This issue is important to First Nations women across the country. We will continue to advocate for these women until all discrimination is removed from the Indian Act."

Ellen Gabriel, President of the Quebec Native Women Inc. shares similar
concerns related to Bill C-31. She states that "Although Bill C-31 was passed 20 years ago, the sexual discrimination that First Nations women have had to endure began with the creation of the 1876 Indian Act. The time to rectify this injustice is long over due. We, as Aboriginal women leaders, must continue to fight for equality of our rights to end this injustice that never should have happened in the first place!"

The discrimination within Bill C-31 is not only a First Nations' women's
issue. It is an issue that affects all First Nations citizens. Both male and
female children and grandchildren are losing Indian status because one of
their parents is non-status.

Since its inception thirty-one years ago, the Native Women's Association
of Canada has been the national organization that advocates on behalf of
Aboriginal Women in Canada.

Bill C-31 Fact Sheet

On June 28, 1985, Bill C-31, An Act to Amend the Indian Act, received
Royal Assent. Bill C-31's purpose was to eliminate sexual discrimination
within the Indian Act to bring it in line with the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms and to respond to Sandra Lovelace's decision from the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The UN recognized that Canada was discriminating against First Nations as a result of the marriage provisions within the Indian Act.

Bill C-31 has many aspects to it. First, Bill C-31 abolished the concept
of enfranchisement. It is no longer possible for First Nations to "sell" their
Indian status. In addition, Bill C-31 provided for the return of Indian status
to those who lost it plus one generation. This second-generation cut-off
affects many First Nations.

Dr. Martin Cannon, Professor of Sociology at the University of
Saskatchewan, finds that "the Indian Act is responsible for making gender
discrimination the foremost of "Aboriginal issues" in the minds of both female and male descendants of women who acquired status under Bill C-31 and who lost it under the historic Indian Act. To me, there is no way to separate 'Aboriginal issues' - those that are of common concern to all Aboriginal people - from 'women's issues'; especially since the history of colonial policy injustices and processes of racialization in what is now called Canada have everything to do with the history of patriarchy and sex discrimination."

Second, First Nations have to apply to have their Indian status reinstated. Indian Affairs was not prepared for the hundreds of thousands of applications for re-instatement. It is now twenty years later and there are
still approximately 10,000 people waiting to regain their Indian status.

Third, Bill C-31 created new definitions of status, which reflects the
continued discrimination and sexual discrimination in the Indian Act. There
are six subsections of Section 6(1). First Nations peoples who were registered prior to 1985 have Section 6(1)(a) status. For those women who regained status, they are registered under Section 6(1)(c). Her children are registered under Section 6(2).

As First Nations marry persons with no Indian status then their children
have Section 6(2) status. If a person with Section 6(2) status has a child
with a person with no Indian status then their child has no Indian status.
Bill C-31 initially increased the First Nations population but as more First
Nations have children with non-status people, Bill C-31 will eliminate Indian status in the foreseeable future.

Fourth, under the provisions of Bill C-31, First Nations women must state
the status of the father when registering their children. Many First Nations
women are having difficulties with having to register her children if she does not want to state the paternity of her children, especially if she is an
abusive or violent relationship. According to Bill C-31, if the father of the
child is not listed on the birth certificate then Indian Affairs assumes that
the father is non-status. Unstated paternity means that the child will either
have Section 6(2) status or no Indian status.

Fifth, Bill C-31 gave each First Nations community the right to develop
their own membership code. However, each membership code had to be approved by the Minister of Indian Affairs.

All First Nations communities have issues with the lack of resources
related to Bill C-31: financial, infrastructure, land and housing. There were
concerns that increased First Nations populations would have detrimental
effects on already limited lands and resources. The Federal Government should have provided additional lands and resources to offset the increase in First Nations populations.

Finally, since Bill C-31 was introduced, there have been hundreds of
cases being litigated in the courts. These cases deal with membership issues, status issues and continued discrimination and sexual discrimination within Bill C-31.

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/For further information: Charlene Beatty, Executive Assistant to the
President of the Native Women's Association of Canada at (613) 722-3033 ext 225 or Ellen Gabriel, President of the Quebec Native Women Inc. at
(450) 632-0088/

June 28th, 2005
Twenty years ago, on this day legislation known as Bill C-31 received Royal Assent and became law. Since then, First Nations have been trying to get rid of its discrimination, something they say will eliminate all Indians in Canada.

In Ottawa, there was a gathering organized by First Nations women whose simple message was . . .
Stop the Discrimination! - Aboriginal People Unite Against Bill C-31

Appropriately, the Bill C-31 demonstration was held at the Human Rights Monument.

Bill C-31 has not stopped the discrimination within the Indian Act.

In fact, the Native Women's Association of Canada explains that many First Nations children are losing Indian status, because one of their
parents is non-status.

"If something is not done, Bill C-31 will eliminate Indian status in the near future. This issue affects ALL First Nations peoples."
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"The federal government cannot and must not legislate the extinguishment of our citizens, whether based on gender, age or the 'wrong' lineage of First Nations ancestry." Skawahlook First Nation Chief Maureen Chapman, Chair of the AFN's Women's Council

"First Nations governments want to assume responsibility for their own citizens and can do a better job of it than Canada. The twentieth anniversary of Bill C-31 is an opportune time to begin this work." AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine

Bill C-31 twenty years later: AFN National Chief calls for First Nations control of First Nations citizenship

OTTAWA, June 28 /CNW Telbec/ - Today, on the twentieth anniversary of
Royal Assent of the 1985 Act to Amend the Indian Act (commonly referred to as Bill C-31), AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine called on the government of Canada to address the systemic inequities it has created and to work with First Nations governments so that they can assume control of citizenship.

"After living with Bill C-31 for twenty years, we can clearly and
unequivocally say that it has failed Canada and it has failed First Nations,"
said National Chief Fontaine. "The Bill has not resolved any of the problems
it was intended to fix and has in fact created new problems. Significant
gender discrimination still remains, control over Indian status is still held
by the Crown, and the population of status Indians is declining as a direct
result of Bill C-31. This is a critical issue and the time to act is now."

The National Chief stated that control of citizenship and the Indian
Register must be transferred to the proper jurisdiction.

"It is morally, politically and legally wrong for one government to tell
another government who its citizens are, and we are calling for a process to move citizenship to the jurisdiction where it properly belongs, and that is
with First Nations governments," said the National Chief. "Bill C-31 was an
imposed government solution to problems created by the government's own imposed legislation. It is clear that First Nations governments are best
placed to identify and define their citizenship. In fact, Canada is in a clear
conflict of interest in trying to define our membership because the number of registered Indians creates financial implications for the government."

Bill C-31 was introduced with the expressed intention of eliminating
gender-based discrimination in the Indian Act. The stated purposes of the Bill were to remove overt discrimination from the Indian Act; restore status and membership rights to those who lost them because of inequalities in the Act; and to increase control of Indian bands over their own affairs.

Skawahlook First Nation Chief Maureen Chapman, Chair of the AFN's Women's Council, pointed out the fact that, even in the next five years, the number of children eligible for Indian status will begin to decline sharply.

"By 2010, nearly one in five First Nations children will no longer be
eligible for status under the terms of the Indian Act," stated Chief Chapman. "In other words, in the eyes of the government they are no longer 'Indians', even if they live a traditional life in their traditional community. The Department of Indian Affairs knows that this is an urgent issue, given that the statistic comes from work they commissioned. The federal government cannot and must not legislate the extinguishment of our citizens, whether based on gender, age or the 'wrong' lineage of First Nations ancestry."

National Chief Fontaine called for an immediate process between the AFN
and the federal government on how to transfer complete authority over
jurisdiction to First Nations.

"The only honourable way for Canada to proceed from this point forward is
to vacate the business of determining First Nations status and citizenship,"
said the National Chief. "Strategic discussions and good faith negotiations
between the AFN and the federal government must begin so we can decide how best to transfer complete authority to First Nations. First Nations
governments want to assume responsibility for their own citizens and can do a better job of it than Canada. The twentieth anniversary of Bill C-31 is an opportune time to begin this work."

The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing
First Nations citizens in Canada.